Sins of the mother
by BlueLion20
Summary: Lin and her sisters wonder what makes their mother have these "episodes." Even as Lin prays for Azula to get better, Katara and Toph tend to their wife, Lin's big sisters try to put her fears to rest. Azutara and Tophzula pairings. Don't like, don't read. (Rated M now for the third chapter-anyone has a problem with that, don't read either)
1. An episode

Disclaimer: I own nothing, zip, nada.

**Sins of the mother: Chapter One: An episode**

Lin, age four stood by her parents' bedroom door, hand clasped tightly in her big six-year-old sister Kya's hand. The black haired earthbender gripped her sister's fingers hard, her heart pounding against her chest as she watched their mother being held protectively in their mama and mommy's arms on the ground, their mother heaving her breaths out as she thrashed in the grasp of the other two benders.

Lin looked at all three of her older sisters, wondering if they knew why their mother got like this. Lin knew that their mother was sick. Their mother; a beautiful, strong, intelligent firebender named Azula also suffered from nightmares and suffered from what their mommy called "episodes." Lin didn't know what that meant, but she knew from how their mother was whimpering and shaking against their mama and mommy that it wasn't anything good. Lin knew that in the morning, their mother would sit at the table, eating breakfast wordlessly, avoiding eye contact with all four of her children.

This had happened before. The earliest time Lin could recall this happening had been when she was two. Her mother was picking her up and twirling Lin around happily, when a haunted look came over the black haired woman's face and she almost dropped Lin before Azula's oldest daughter, Zenya came over and grabbed Lin from her, and their mommy and mama had come into the living room and helped the firebender who was at that point crying out and gripping her head.

Their mama, Toph Bei Fong and their mommy, Katara of the Southern Water Tribe had run into the room, seizing Azula and getting her to sit down with them.

Lin still didn't know what set her mother off. Not back then, not now, nor any of the times that Azula had had any of her "episodes" as the rest of the family called them.

It hurt the girl to know that her mother was in so much pain at times and there was nothing she could do to help.

When the four girls had heard their mother screaming, Lin had grabbed her sacks of dirt and rocks, running to her parents' bedroom, getting ready to bend the earth in the sacks as weapons. Kya and Ruaz had both run in too, both wielding their waterskins, both waterbending children preparing to use the water to protect their mother as Lin was more than willing to do with the earth she had. Zenya had walked in a few minutes later, a sad look in her eyes, as if she knew what was happening.

Zenya had not been stoking up any fire in either of her hands like Lin had been expecting. She sometimes wondered how Zenya knew that their mother was having these….episodes.

Katara lifted her head and glanced at her daughters. "Zenya, Ruaz, take your sisters into the main room. It's okay. Your mother's fine. She just needs some time with us and to heal. It's alright. Zenya, Ruaz, go." She nodded towards the door and Lin looked, seeing her two oldest sisters move; Ruaz throwing her waterskin over her shoulder to hang there and taking Kya by the hand and leading her to the door and Zenya scooping Lin herself up in her arms.

"But…...but…..but we could help!" Kya protested, waterskin still in her hand and staring at their mother on the floor, "I'm a waterbender like you, mommy! And so is Ruaz!"

"Don't argue with us!" Toph snapped, her head moving towards where she heard their voices, eyes though blind were narrowed in anger, "Go to the living room and play with Tanku and we'll take care of your mother." Though her words were rough, her hands cradled Azula's head, her left palm caressing the firebender's cheek in a soothing motion as their mother hyperventilated and kept Azula's shoulders on her lap while Katara supported Azula's lower torso on her own lap.

Ruaz tugged Kya and then went through the threshold of the room out into the hall. Zenya held Lin tightly in her arms.

Zenya appeared nonchalant but Lin caught the concerned glint in her sister's golden eyes. Zenya was afraid for their mother just like she was. Lin's stomach fell as Zenya held her and Lin threw her arms around her sister's neck, tears smearing against the nape of her firebending sibling's throat.

"Shh," Zenya mumbled, her hand stroking down Lin's black hair and back, "It'll be okay. Have you ever known mommy not to be able to heal mother? Mother will be back to normal in no time." Lin tried not to flinch at how Zenya's voice cracked. She knew that not even her sister believed that everything was okay.

All four sisters were soon in the living room; Ruaz sitting Kya down onto the sofa and Zenya carrying Lin to the cushion next to Ruaz and sitting down next to them, holding Lin close. Lin didn't worry about the earth she carried around. The earth was in four small sacks she had asked their mommy to tie to the hem of her shirt. The four sacks hung there as she was carried by her big sister. Lin buried her face in Zenya's black hair. She loved being held like this. She knew how childish it was of her, but she loved it when her mother, mama and mommy would hold her, allowing her to wrap her legs around their abdomens and hugging their necks. She knew both her mother and mama valued strength, so it was somewhat embarrassing to admit, even to herself that she loved being babied. Her sisters knew of course, and their mommy was always happy to baby all of them, and she knew that her mama said that she was very good at knowing when someone was lying, so her mama probably knew too.

Lin kept her chin on Zenya's neck but looked over to Ruaz and Kya, watching them and listening to them.

"I don't understand," Kya spoke sadly, deep blue eyes pained, "Why does mother get like that sometimes?"

There was growling from the floor and Ruaz, without looking bent her arm down, stroking her palm against their servalfox, Tanku's sleek, spotted red and black fur. The servalfox was lying on his side, dark eyes watching the children of his masters. Tanku had been adopted when Kya had turned four. He had been a birthday present for the incessantly pleading waterbending child, desperate for a pet that wasn't already Ruaz's and Zenya's. Zenya and Ruaz's gophermoose, Lapbu was in the backyard grazing, but tomorrow morning they'd groom him. He had been adopted when Ruaz was five and Zenya was nine. Kya loved Lapbu but she regarded Tanku as _hers._

As Ruaz pet and scratched the now purring beast, the eleven-year old said quietly, voice sounding numb, "I don't know. She hasn't been like that for a while. Mommy says that it happens when she gets a bad memory or something. I don't know really how it works."

Kya shook her head, jumping up and sitting on the couch between Ruaz and Zenya. "Why doesn't mommy ever let us try to heal her, Ruaz? We're both waterbenders, right?"

"It isn't like that, Kya." Zenya spoke, startling Lin, "Mother isn't sick like _that_. The kind of sickness that she has is in her head. You can't use bending on it. Right now, mother just needs people that love her to be with her."

Lin's eyes widened and both she and Kya were about to react the same way.

"Then why did mommy and mama send us out of the room?" Kya asked, jumping off the sofa, "If we're with mother then she'll get better!" she was about to move away from the sofa when Ruaz used her other hand to grab her little sister's wrist, keeping the young waterbender from leaving. Lin had the same thought as Kya and tried to struggle out of Zenya's grasp, but her oldest sibling held on tight.

"Kya, Lin, no." Zenya commanded sharply, "Do you think mother wants either of you to see her like this? She'll feel happier if you don't look at her while she's having "episodes." Why do you think she never talks about it in front of us?"

Lin stopped squirming and thought about it. Actually, why _didn't _their mother talk about it ever?

As if sensing her little sister's thoughts, Zenya answered, "It's called "pride," Lin, or at least mother wants to have some of her dignity left."

Lin blinked. "What's dignity, sis?" She asked, eyes wide in contemplation.

Zenya chuckled, but Ruaz answered for her, "It's respect." When Ruaz thought that her two little sisters didn't understand, she supplied a bit more. "It means 'honor'."

Lin was surprised and glanced at Kya who was also stunned. Honor. They had heard that word uttered many times before by their uncle Zuzu and their uncle Aang. They didn't know why it was so important. Lin asked Kya plenty of times what the "big deal" was about honor, but her big sister didn't know either.

Ruaz saw how her little sisters were gaping and laughed, making Tanku jump a little, "It's not something physical that you can touch but like love and friendship, it's important. At least to mother and uncle Zuzu it is."

Lin's cheeks flushed and she glared at her big sister, "Well if 'honor' is so important that we can't see mother, then I don't want it! Honor's stupid."

Ruaz's eyes became wide and Zenya hissed, forcing a yelp from the small earthbender, "Don't you say that! Certainly don't let mother hear that. Lin, I know you want to be with her and keep her company, but we can't do anything right now. Let mama and mommy take care of it. They've been looking after mother before any of us were born."

Lin watched Zenya, examining her. Zenya was the oldest of them. She was going to turn sixteen in eight months. The fifteen-year-old had seen more of their mother's episodes and how their mommy and mama soothed it than any of them. Ruaz was born four years after Zenya, but their big firebending sister had seen a lot. So when their mother had started screaming, that had probably been why she hadn't started firebending. She knew that there was no immediate threat.

"She _is_ getting better though." Zenya continued, smiling, though her gold eyes were still sober, "I'm actually surprised that she had an incident tonight." She peered at Ruaz, "Do you know if anything happened to make mother like this tonight?"

Ruaz shook her head. "No," She answered, appearing lost, "I don't know. I ran in right around the time that Kya and Lin did. I have no idea what happened. I don't think there's really a trigger for this. Mommy says that sometimes it just happens."

Zenya sighed, hugging Lin tighter. She met Ruaz's blue eyes, "It's sometimes so sporadic. I thought that since we haven't seen her like this in a while, she might be better, but I guess that's not something that can ever really be fixed."

Ruaz smiled, her copper face saddened, "I thought you looked gloomy when you came into the room. I guess you expected something like this when you heard mother?"

Zenya shrugged, amber eyes now downcast, giving her sister all the answers she needed. Lin laid her chin on Zenya's shoulder. She didn't understand what was going on, but hoped she'd understand it when she got older. She wanted to find a way to help her mother. What she did know was that their house was a little different from a lot of other houses. At least when it came to a particular object that was missing in the house. There were no mirrors to speak of in the house except for the one that Zenya had in her room, and their mommy instructed for all four of them to share that mirror, and not allow their mother to see it. Lin had no idea why. She had seen plenty of mirrors in their uncle Aang's house. There were plenty too at the Fire Nation palace, though they would quickly be covered up with fire red silk as soon as Lin and her family came over. She knew now that it was to protect her mother from…from _something_. She had never witnessed her mother near a mirror to know what she was like in front of them. All she knew was that when it came to her mother, mirrors were not good things.

Something else Lin noticed; strange men in green with the Earth Kingdom emblem on the front of their robes and large, round straw hats on would appear every now and then. Lin had seen their mother talk with them. She didn't know who they were. Their parents and Zenya called them the "Dai Li," but Lin didn't know what that was supposed to mean.

She knew that the Dai Li were earthbenders just like her and like her mama but that was all the knowledge she had of them. Their mother claimed that they would protect her and her sisters no matter what, but Lin didn't know them.

"I don't care." Lin mumbled into Zenya's ebony mane, and moved away from it when she realized her sisters probably couldn't hear her, "I don't care," She repeated loudly, "I don't care about honor either, Kya. I just want mother to be happy. Why don't we ask mommy and mama why mother acts like this in the morning?"

"Lin!" Zenya snapped, and due to her close proximity to her sister, Lin couldn't prevent a whimper of shock, "No. Mother doesn't act like it most of the time but her feelings are fragile. Lin," Zenya pushed Lin away from her person, forcing the black haired, golden eyed earthbender to stare at her sister, "Lin, you promise me that you won't ask mother or either mommy or mama about this in the morning or ever, do you understand?"

Lin froze. She knew Ruaz and Kya were both fixating their eyes on her and Zenya. She knew Ruaz _certainly _was looking at them, since Tanku was hissing (more than likely because Ruaz wasn't petting him anymore and was too busy staring) and she only looked befuddled at her older sister who was glaring at her.

"Lin!" Zenya snapped, shaking the earthbender in her hands, "Promise me!"

"Zenya!" Ruaz yelped, voice indicating her worry for Lin, "Stop. She was just concerned about mother. Don't shake her."

Zenya didn't seem to hear Ruaz as she stared even more intensely at Lin. "Lin?" She asked, voice sounding dangerous, "Promise?"

Lin gulped, realizing that there probably wasn't anything she could do. She nodded.

"Promise." She mumbled, lowering her head and Zenya hugged her back to her chest again, arms holding her tightly.

"Good." Zenya whispered and Lin barely heard her, "Now get to sleep, little girl." She turned her head and looked at her younger waterbending sibling, "You too, Kya. You should sleep too."

Kya nodded and so wasn't surprised at all when Ruaz took her hand and got off the couch, guiding her little sister out of the living room into the hallway. Zenya got up, still holding Lin close and followed.

"Goodnight, Tanku." Kya called over her shoulder. The feline-canine beast growled back in response as it rolled over and closed its eyes for sleep.

"Goodnight, Tan-Tan," Lin said affectionately, smiling at their pet's nickname.

Zenya carried Lin to her room as Ruaz led Kya to her room. When Zenya laid Lin onto the earthbending girl's bed, placing a kiss on her little sister's pale forehead, she smiled and untied the sacks on Lin's shirt, taking the four little sacks by the strings and placing them on the table by the younger girl's bed.

"Night, Lin." Zenya whispered tenderly.

"Goodnight, big sister." Lin mumbled, closing her eyes and drifting off as she grabbed her stuffed badgermole, holding it close to her chest, praying to Agni and the spirits that her mother was having a peaceful night sleep now.

Zenya watched her sister begin to snore and turned, leaving the room. She came out into the hallway and saw Ruaz leaving Kya's room.

"How was she?" Zenya asked, fear for both her sisters prodding at her mind, "Is Kya going to let go and just sleep for now?"

Ruaz shrugged, "Looks like it. What about Lin?"

Zenya grimaced. She felt awful. "Lin is so afraid for mother. She always has been ever since she first saw mother like this. She's very protective of her."

Ruaz was visibly taken aback. "Aren't you?" She asked, stunned, "I certainly am."

Zenya tried not to roll her eyes at her sister's drama, "Of course I'm protective of her. I'm protective of all three of our mothers, and of you, Kya, Lin, Tanku and Lapbu. And of our uncles, aunts and cousins, okay? I'm just worried about mother getting even more disturbed or upset. If we want mother to improve, we need Kya and Lin not to ask awkward or invasive questions. As we've just established, mother has her pride."

Ruaz nodded. Oh by Agni did she know that her mother was proud. Ruaz narrowed her gaze when she realized what her sister just said. "You mean, that we need them to not be around?"

The firebender shrugged, "That would be the idea, yeah. I think I should confront our parents myself."

Ruaz was now stupefied. She leaned back against the wall for support, "Wait, 'our parents?' Does that include mother?" She clarified carefully, "And what do you mean 'myself,' Zenya? What about me?" Zenya smiled and decided to confirm it for her sister, "It's okay, Ruaz. I have a backup plan for mother. We see if mother can walk around the garden with Kya and Lin and make sure that Kya and Lin shut their mouths about the matter. That's where you come in, Ruaz. You're going to make sure Kya and Lin don't ask anything while I question mama and mommy."

Ruaz blinked. "You're going to confront the two of them yourself?"

Zenya nodded, knowing that this might make their parents incredibly angry, "Yeah. And you are going to keep Kya and Lin and mother preoccupied in the garden during that time. Lin and Kya are right. We need to find out the root of this, one way or another. You think it's a good plan?"

Ruaz shook her head, sable hair flying around her shoulders. "I think you're the one that has mental problems, not mother." The young waterbender answered, smirking when Zenya glared.

**Author's Note:**

**Just a little "through the eyes of" concerning Toph and Azula's children and Katara and Azula's children fic. I've had KataraxAzula and TophxAzula on my mind for a while now, so this is sort of a start. Hope you liked it. **

**And yes, for those that are wondering, Zenya, Ruaz, Kya and Lin are biologically Azula, Katara and Toph's children. Long story short: spirit stuff. No homophobic comments, no flames, just****feedback please.**


	2. Life story

**Sins of the mother: Chapter 2:**

Zenya watched out of their family's window, pushing the furs strung over the wooden banners above the square shaped hole carved into the stone wall aside, seeing Lin and Kya holding each of their mother's hands, leading her through the garden, Ruaz walking next to her and smiling and talking. Tanku was jumping along the grass at their heels. Lapbu was drinking from the pond outside, his body obscured by the tall yellow grass and his large, long antlers were the only indicator that he was there. Zenya nodded in affirmation and turned back to where the remaining matriarchs of the house were seated at the kitchen table. Toph was ripping into a porkchicken roll, chomping at it, her face more or less neutral, and Katara was carefully slicing up peaches and porkchicken slabs.

Zenya exhaled, trying to calm herself down. She walked over to her two mothers and sat down at the end of the table so that she would be facing both the waterbender and the earthbender equally, though she knew her mama couldn't actually _see. _

"Mama? Mommy?" Zenya started, the insides of her stomach feeling cold, "I'd like to ask something."

Toph's head lifted and while she was still chewing mumbled, "Whu-? Zenya?"

Katara just smiled at the firebending child. "Yes, Zenya," she started, "What is it?"

Zenya's cheeks started to flush and she allowed herself to stumble out, "Um…..it's about mother. Please don't get angry but, Ruaz, Kya, Lin and I were all wondering what made mother like this? Please…..we just want to help."

Toph stopped her chewing and froze. Katara stared.

Before she had to hear their scolding, Zenya cut in, "I know you've both told me not to ask many times and I'm sorry for asking now, but I'm old enough to know. I know you said that mother having bad memories was because of the bad things that happened to her in the past. I have the right to know. I'm her daughter by blood." Zenya glared at Toph, though she knew the earthbender couldn't see her, "And _yours _by blood too, mama."

Toph put her food down and Katara halted her cutting her food up. The waterbender looked stricken and started, "Zenya, you know that all three your mama, your mother and I were all in the war, right?"

Zenya nodded. "Yes, I know," She offered, "And so were uncle Zuzu and uncle Aang and uncle Sokka, right?"

"That's right." Katara said gently, blue eyes avoiding her child and narrowing in thought, "The Fire Nation started a war. Your uncle Aang was trapped in that iceberg that your uncle Sokka and I found him and Appa in."

"Appa?" Zenya repeated, cocking her eyebrows curiously. Who was Appa?

"Twinkle-Toes's sky bison," Toph answered offhandedly, "You wouldn't remember him. He died of old age when you were two."

"Oh." The young firebender responded, realizing she had been a little foolish. Okay, she had always known about the sky bison, but had never learned the creature's name till now. Uncle Aang didn't like talking about his sky bison. It was clearly too personal.

Katara continued, seeing that Zenya was ready to hear more, "As I'm sure you know, the Fire Nation, for a terribly long time was dominated with a ruthless and unforgiving hand and discipline was taught without mercy."

Zenya tried not to gulp at all. She had heard the stories of what the Fire Nation had been like before uncle Aang had been brought out of the iceberg from his hundred year sleep. Everyone in the world had been afraid of the Fire Nation and feared reprisals from it, should they ever dare to rebel.

Katara continued, knowing she had Zenya's attention, "Things were very different then than they are now. Back then, residents of the Fire Nation were still expected to treat their children and bring them up without any mercy. Fire Lord Sozin was the start of this belief. You know who he was, right?"

Zenya tried not to feel the swell of anger. She knew who Sozin was alright. True, he was her great-great grandfather, but so what? He was also the man that ordered the genocide of a whole race of people.

"Easy, Zen," Toph chuckled, "Your blood pressure just increased. I'm guessing that's a 'yeah, I know about Sozin.' It feels like you're about ready to pop."

"Toph," Katara chastised, "In any case. Yes, Sozin is your great-great grandfather as I'm sure you know. And that's actually important. Sozin, we believe, was abusive to his son, Azulon. Azulon carried on the abuse to the next generation…to his son Ozai."

Zenya lifted her head, now very interested. She knew who Ozai was. No one liked to talk about him. He was a subject that rarely came up, but his reign before 'The Avatar and his group stopped the Fire Lord' was a story that everyone in the world knew. And everyone in the world knew that Zuko and Azula were by blood his children. She knew that this was where things got important.

"Zuko was exiled from his home by Ozai," Katara added, face grim. Zenya nodded. She had heard that story too. She didn't know why it happened but she knew somewhere along the line, her grandfather (all three of her mothers refused to acknowledge that she, Ruaz, Kya and Lin were in any way related to the former Fire Lord) had sent her uncle away with her great uncle Iroh to find the Avatar.

Katara carried on, placing her silverware down on the table, face serious as she sat in concentration, "That is only an example of what the Fire Nation taught its civilians about raising children. Ozai believed that Zuko was "speaking out of turn" and so he scarred your uncle permanently and exiled him for years. That was considered _normal _for that family, at least when it came to your uncle."

Zenya tried not to feel sick at the thought. She had always known that Fire Lord Ozai had been responsible for her uncle Zuzu's scar and the very thought of either her uncle or her beloved mother growing up living with that monster for years was almost unimaginable.

Katara spoke softly, hoping to get the young woman to understand, "Abuse was a regular thing for the Fire Nation palace. One generation abused the next and so on. Your mother and uncle were next in line. Now, here's where things get complicated. Before Zuko's exile, when he and Azula were small and Azulon was still alive and still Fire Lord and your great uncle Iroh was off at war fighting against Ba Sing se, Ozai plotted."

Zenya prepared for what was to happen next. It was strange enough to hear that great uncle Iroh was once a general and once tried to conquer the city that she and her family currently lived in. Her mommy continued, "Ozai got Ursa to kill Fire Lord Azulon to protect your uncle Zuzu."

This time, Zenya tried not to growl. Ursa. She hated that name. True, she had never met the woman but the very name made Zenya want to incinerate something. She didn't know what exactly Ozai had done to her mother, but she did know that her mother abhorred Zenya and her sisters' grandmother. Something or other about Ursa calling Azula a monster. The very thought made Zenya wish she could track that woman down and murder her herself. And Zenya was usually not a very violent girl.

"Easy, Sugar queen," Toph cut in, facing Zenya, "Zen's heart rate just went up," Toph pressed her foot harder against the stone floor, "And it feels like her blood's boiling. I don't think you should have said you know…..the 'U' name."

Katara lowered her eyes to her food, picking at it absentmindedly, "Well she needs to know. She asked. She should know that Ursa was part of the reason Azula's the way she is. When Ozai was plotting to take the throne, Azulon tried to have Zuko killed. Azula told Ursa, and Ursa thought she was only trying to play a prank on her "precious Zuko," so she called your mother a monster."

Zenya's teeth clenched, and her hand tightened around the fork, hard. Anger flooded her senses and she felt herself starting to exude heat. The fork in her hand began to bend as its small metal form was permeated with molten heat from the one holding it.

"Zenya," Katara said, voice firm as she picked up her waterskin from where it lay to her side and holding it near the table, "Calm down. You're firebending right now. I know you're angry, but you can't do anything right now. Getting upset won't help your mother."

"Hey well," Toph remarked, smirking, though Zenya could tell from her mama's tone that the earthbender wasn't feeling as cocky as usual, "At least she's doing one of us proud and following in my footsteps in metalbending." The earthbender gave Zenya a joking smile and Zenya felt her anger begin to fade. She stopped firebending and let the fork go, ignoring the loud 'clang' the now misshapen piece of metal made when it hit the table.

Zenya controlled her fire, making sure it went back into herself and leveled her gaze with Katara. "Well?" She said, "I'm ready. You can keep talking. I'm interested."

Katara appeared apprehensive but spoke carefully, "Ursa left, after putting Ozai in power; that left Zuko and Azula alone with him. He abused your mother and uncle for years. He verbally abused Zuko and physically hurt Azula constantly, claiming it was part of her "training." It wasn't, it was just to keep her in line. He brutalized her almost every single day. In her eyes, she was never good enough for Ozai, but Ozai was just keeping her under his control."

Almost as soon as Katara was done saying this, she glanced up and saw that Zenya was starting to generate heat again and her nails were digging into the cloth covering the table. Thankfully, Toph acted and placed a hand gently on Zenya's shoulder. Zenya glanced at Toph but thankfully lowered her shoulders and her heat lessened, though it was still evidently there.

Katara started again cautiously, "Your mother felt like she needed to be perfect. She believed that she had to do everything that Ozai wanted and excel beyond it," Katara took a glance at the door, making sure she didn't hear Azula approach, "Azula built herself up in hopes that she'd gain Ozai's love. Ursa hadn't helped. Because Ursa favored Zuko over Azula, and never treated Azula the way she treated Zuko, there was a void in your mother that she wanted to fill. Azula needed love and she never got it from either of her parents. Zuko didn't help because he was too absorbed with his own problems to protect his sister from Ozai. So this left your mother feeling like she was completely and utterly unloved."

Zenya tried to ignore the sting of tears. She couldn't even fathom what that was like. She and her sisters grew up in a household where all four of them were shown love and affection equally. She couldn't even imagine what kind of life her mother had to have experienced. But then, perhaps that was why their mother was so attentive. She didn't want to make the same mistakes that her own mother and father made. She didn't want to treat her children the same way they treated her.

And Zuko…

Zenya shivered at the thought of her uncle Zuzu not protecting her mother. The uncle Zuzu Zenya knew now was incredibly protective of his baby sister and did everything in his power to help her get better. She knew that one parent favoring one child over the other was a terrible thing to do and that uncle Zuzu had just been a child himself, but still, she couldn't even imagine not ever trying to protect her little sisters, ever.

"You understand, right?" Katara offered, voice somber, "Many of the mental problems your mother has now stems from being overstressed and constant insecurities about not being what her parents wanted her to be, and because Zuko had his own problems, he left her alone too." She smiled sadly, "That's why she's such a good mother. She doesn't want to be like Ozai or Ursa. So while all of Azula's emotional problems were stirring up, Zuko, exiled found out about Aang coming out of the iceberg and went to get him."

Zenya stiffened again. "To kill him, right?" She ventured, knowing the answer already. Everyone knew _that _story.

Katara hesitated. "Well…." She managed out but her voice was strained.

"No," Toph spoke up, voice blunt as always, "Fire Lord Hothead didn't go to the South Pole to kill Twinkle-toes, he went there to give her uncle Aang a welcome back party! Of course she knows that Lord Hothead was there to kill Aang, Sugar queen."

"Toph." Katara snapped, glaring at her friend.

"What?" The earthbender asked indignantly, "Don't insult Zenya's intelligence. She knows."

Yeah, that was another thing about uncle Zuzu that Zenya couldn't quite believe; him trying to kill her uncle Aang, _and _the thought of him hunting her mommy and mama and uncle Sokka for a year. Still, it was a war. It was realistic to understand that those on different sides would probably try to kill each other. She knew that her mother and uncle Zuzu had been on the side opposing the rest of her and her sisters' family, she had found that out when she had turned eight and first found out about the war and who exactly fought in it.

"It's okay." Zenya quickly answered, hoping they could carry on with the story and glanced at Katara for more.

"You know what happened from there, right?" Katara asked, now looking at Zenya curiously.

The firebender walked through the bits and pieces she had heard, "Uncle Zuko captured Aang, Aang escaped and then all three of you left the South Pole together to teach Aang the other elements so he could defeat Fire Lord Ozai."

"That's right." Katara confirmed, smiling, "we were on the run for some time but it was actually great; being out in the world, traveling, being with the Avatar and my brother. At least, as long as I forgot that Zuko was on our trail. After a long journey, Aang mastered waterbending and then we needed to find an earthbending master for him."

Toph sat back in her seat, smirking in satisfaction. "Who better to teach Twinkle-toes except for the greatest earthbender in the world?" She boasted. Zenya smiled, feeling a swell of pride rise up at her mama's prowess in battle and earthbending.

"_Anyway,_" Katara said, smirking at Toph with a lifted eyebrow; a sign of her chagrin-though masked, "After all four of us were together, Aang had a waterbending teacher and an earthbending teacher. We just needed a firebending teacher and Zuko didn't join us until later. But, before Toph started accompanying us, your mother and her two friends Mai and Ty Lee were sent after us."

Zenya held her breath; ready for whatever it was that was coming. She knew part of this too. She knew her mother and aunt Mai and aunt Ty Lee were sent after uncle Aang and the others; that was also a very well-known story.

Seeing that her daughter was paying close attention, Katara spoke carefully as she thought about the past events, "Your mother was quite frightening to us. We had never run into another firebender like her before. She had blue fire and used lightning. Zuko certainly couldn't do that."

Zenya couldn't help but smirk. She loved her uncle Zuzu, but really, when it came down to it, her mother _was _the best firebender the world had ever seen.

"Get that smirk off your face, young lady." Katara said, voice low but amused, indicating that she wasn't really serious, "It wasn't funny at the time. Your mother was terrifying. You know the story they tell here in Ba Sing Se, don't you?"

Zenya shivered and nodded. She knew how loyal the people of Ba Sing Se were to her family and especially to her mother-not to mention how devoted the Dai Li, the secret police of Ba Sing Se were to her mother, but still, even though Zenya always knew her mother was a strong, proud warrior and general, the very idea that the firebending princess had dominated the city they now lived in completely and shot uncle Aang through the back with lightning while he had been in his Avatar state never failed to send chills down her young spine.

Actually, the thought that her mother had quite clearly been ready to kill all of the people that were basically her, Ruaz, Kya and Lin's family in general was a fairly terrifying thought.

Katara watched Zenya's reaction and grimaced.

Toph lifted her head. "Judging by how fast your heartbeat just went," The earthbender stated, "Obviously you do."

Zenya looked down at the table, studying the splinters of wood, "Mother used that big drill to get through Ba Sing Se's walls. And she temporarily killed uncle Aang. Then she took control of the city and the Dai Li."

"Yeah," Toph injected, "And as it turned out it was really good for Ba Sing Se. Your mother's the reason why almost everyone in Ba Sing Se are fed and housed and paid equally. None of this 'Lower Ring,' 'Middle Ring,' or 'Upper Ring' bullhorse shi-"

"Toph!" Katara hissed, and Zenya chuckled, not even having to lift her head to know that her mommy was glaring at Toph.

"Well," Katara sighed, still glaring at Toph, "What your mama says is right. Because of Azula, the cast system in Ba Sing Se was practically abolished. The people of the Lower Ring and the Middle Ring were a great deal more than they had previously when compared with the Upper Ring. They were fed better and their lives were easier now than it had been before your mother came to power. And I know you've heard the stories of Long Feng."

Zenya froze. She didn't move. Oh yes. She had heard of Long Feng alright. The stories were terrible. They were almost ghost stories nowadays in the small towns of Ba Sing Se. A cautionary tale for children to listen to their parents.

The people in town would tell their children, _"Don't run off and don't stay out past dark, or else the ghost of Long Feng will take you underground, brainwash you and make you his slave." _ Even after eight years of first hearing that tale, she would still feel the cold fingers of fear dig into her. She also knew her mother had killed Long Feng. That story all by itself was grim. She heard how her mother had sliced his body….._vertically _in half with one swipe of a line of blue fire. Supposedly that had been when Zenya had only been two.

The whole thing was scary to think about. Katara started speaking again, "Yes, Ba Sing Se is in your mother's debt, but at the time it just meant that the Fire Nation had an advantage in the war since it had control of one of the previously free Earth Kingdom cities. Now, this is where your mother's issues need to be paid attention to," The waterbender looked tense as she continued and as Zenya looked at her two bender parents, she dreaded what she was about to hear, "Azula became victorious and was praised by Ozai…but as established the reason why Azula was always so efficient and did everything that Ozai told her was because she wanted his approval. She wanted his love."

Zenya narrowed her eyes. She knew the previous Fire Lord had been a terrible man, but had he truly not loved his own children? Seeing her daughter's confusion, Katara chortled quietly, "Ozai…..be happy you've never met him. He never loved either Zuko or Azula. They were just tools to him. Ozai pushed Azula to be…..well, to be "perfect." She wasn't allowed to make mistakes or not be the best. She had to do exactly what he wanted or else he would have done to her what he did to Zuko." Katara inhaled and began again, "And I'm sorry to say that your grandmother was no better when Azula was a child. This all escalated in Azula's mind. Finally, when your uncle Aang fully recovered and woke up, Zuko eventually joined us and taught him firebending. But because Zuko left, Azula's…problems got more severe."

Zenya tensed. She knew the stories, she knew what was coming. It didn't make it any better. In fact, this anticipation just made it worse.

"When your uncle Zuko and uncle Sokka went to Boiling Rock to rescue your grandfather Hakoda," her mommy began, "your mother, and aunt Mai and aunt Ty Lee went there. When your uncles and grandfather made their escape with the Fire Nation guards coming after them, Mai stopped them, betraying your mother for love. And when your mother finally showed signs of her mental breakdown, willing to kill her own friend for betraying her, Ty Lee stopped her. Azula thought that they both betrayed her so she had them locked up."

Katara inhaled and Zenya lowered her head. It was hard to picture. Her mother was fierce, dangerous, militant, and yes, incredibly mentally troubled, but she was also loyal and protective of those she cared about, and Zenya knew that her mother cared about Mai and Ty Lee. It was strange, and admittedly a little horrifying to think that her mother would ever lock her two dear old friends up in the Boiling Rock.

"For Azula," Katara added, "This I think was hard for her. Not hard for her to lock them up, but it was hard to deal with her brother leaving and for her friends to try to protect what she saw at the time as a "traitor." It felt like one rejection after another. Your mother was unraveling. And that's when we went through with our big plan after Ozai declared himself Phoenix King. Sokka, your mama and your aunt Suki took down the battalion of blimps, your uncle Aang took on Ozai…..and your uncle Zuzu and I fought your mother in an Agni Kai."

Zenya's hands wrapped around the edge of the table, knuckles becoming white. She knew the story…..she knew….oh Agni, this was going to be painful to hear.

Katara smiled sadly at Zenya's mortified expression. "Yes, Zen," She said, voice almost choking, "I know you know what happened. It's terrible to think about it now. I love your mother very much, more than I can ever describe. It was horrible to watch even before we got into a relationship, so I really can't stomach thinking about it now. I'm only glad that Fire Lord Zuko let me take care of her. That's how she was allowed out of the asylum."

"And after you two and mama got into a relationship, you decided to live here in Ba Sing Se, where at least mother was praised by the people for the equality they had now." Zenya finished, figuring out the rest. "That's right." Katara nodded.

Zenya swallowed hard. It was a legend that was renown, but now that she knew the details, knew what made Azula's psychology work, or…fail, however one looked at it, it was so malignant….so chaotic and malevolent that it made her stomach clench in pain and sickness just imagining it all happening.

She opened her hands from around the table and said, voice nearly sounding desperate, "But she's a lot better than she used to be, right? I mean, I haven't seen her get like that in years. I mean, she hasn't had an episode that bad in two or three years, right?"

Katara and Toph didn't say anything. Finally, after an incredibly awkward pregnant pause, the earthbender spoke, "Well, yeah, sure, but…..you've seen her…she still talks to the air, she can't be near mirrors. Crap, she can't even be near water since it reflects stuff."

Zenya lifted an eyebrow at Toph. "How would you know, mama?" She teased the earthbender. Toph scowled. "Watch it, kid," She remarked dryly, "I can't see a reflection but I know people can see themselves in the water. Sugar queen once told me when we were taking steps to make sure your mother didn't lose it."

Zenya knew there was a joke in there that she could use about "watching it," but she held her tongue. Right now she needed to help her mother, not antagonize her mama. She put the conversation back on track, "I know. I've seen how she tenses up too. Like she's hearing someone talk that she really doesn't want to hear, even when I can't hear anything." Zenya almost shuddered at the thought. She hated thinking of all the voices in her mother's head. What hell it must be to have the life that her mother had.

Zenya grit her teeth and felt tears prickling her eyes again. Before she could stop herself, she sniffled, hot liquid streaming down her face.

As the firebender brought her right hand to her face, trying to hide her crying, she heard two chairs scraping along the floor and two people walk over to her. A pair of arms wrapped around her shoulders, a chin against Zenya's scalp.

"Shh, Zenya," Katara whispered lovingly to her child, "Shh. Your mother has had a very difficult life, but there isn't a moment when she regrets having you and your sisters. She wouldn't trade it for anything."

Zenya whimpered into Katara's shoulder, "But she went through so much pain…I, she…"

"Shut it, Zen," Toph put in, voice harsh, but her hand was gentle when it landed on the back of the firebender's head, "You, Ruaz, Kya and Lin? You four mean everything to your mother. Yeah, her life sucked but if the outcome is that she has the four of you, I'm pretty sure she sees it as worth it all. So don't let her ever hear you say that she deserves better."

Zenya dried her tears, but managed out, "But I wish I could have done something."

"You already have." Katara said soothingly to Zenya, kissing the girl's forehead, "Do you know how happy your mother was when she first held you in her arms after giving birth to you? She looked like the happiest woman in the world. It was like you completely lit up her life the moment she saw and held you."

Zenya smiled at that visual. She knew how much her mother loved and adored her children. Her mama spoke up, "Sugar queen, Zen, easy, I hear Zula, Ru, Kya and Lin's vibrations. They're coming back. Zen, don't let your mother know what we've been talking about. Don't upset her." The young firebender chuckled at the protective edge in her mama's voice. Toph was so caring and attentive when it came to Azula. Woe to whomever or whatever tried to harm her wife ever. Zenya wasn't fool enough to believe that the earthbender would allow anyone, even one of Azula's own children to harm the Fire Nation princess.

Toph added a second later, "We'll explain things later. Don't let her hear a thing though." She went quiet when there were footsteps heard on the wood of the porch outside.

The wooden door to their home slid open and Kya and Lin's giggling announced the other half of their family's entrance into the structure. Azula was led into the house, Kya and Lin bringing her in with Ruaz at their mother's heels, Tanku hissing and jumping next to them as the servalfox came in with them.

**Okay, I hope you liked that chapter. I felt it was a bit rushed and muddled, but what do you think? (No flames, please)**


	3. Real

I'll just give this warning here; this story is about to take a hard M rated turn in this chapter.

Rating for this chapter: Mentioned above a big fat M, so anyone who has a problem with that, don't read.

Summary: Toph and Azula sex scene and Ruaz learns about her mother from Zenya.

Note: I want to just mention what Toph and Azula's children and what Katara and Azula's children look like. If these stats contradict anything I've written about them in previous chapters, let me know so I can fix them.

Zenya: Firebender, daughter of Princess Azula of the Fire Nation and Toph Bei Fong of the Earth Kingdom. Age fifteen, long black hair, golden eyes, pale skin.

Ruaz: Waterbender, daughter of Princess Azula of the Fire Nation and Katara of the Southern Water Tribe. Age eleven, dark brown hair that goes past her shoulders, brown skin, blue eyes.

Kya: Waterbender, daughter of Princess Azula of the Fire Nation and Katara of the Southern Water Tribe. Age six, long dark brown hair in a braid, brown skin, blue eyes.

Lin: Earthbender, daughter of Princess Azula of the Fire Nation and Toph Bei Fong of the Earth Kingdom. Age four, short, wild black hair, pale skin, golden eyes.

**Chapter three: Real**

"Okay, Toph, we're going to the market for some things." Katara announced as Toph tied her long black hair in its place, the earthbender turning her head towards the door of their house where she heard Katara's voice.

Lin and Kya had been walked to their school by Zenya. Katara was going to meet with their oldest child and Ruaz was going to accompany the older waterbender. Zenya, Ruaz and Katara were all going to the market. Toph had said she wanted to stay with Azula while they went out. Katara knew there was more to the earthebender's intentions than she was letting on, but the waterbender didn't press her luck when it came to her intuition.

The oldest waterbender in the house and her oldest daughter had had a long morning. Katara and Ruaz had barely had the time to wash and soak accumulated laundry and pull the water out, drying them even with their effective bending. Between getting Kya and Lin's lunches ready before Zenya walked them to school this morning and the laundry, it could get somewhat hectic some mornings.

Katara decided that if Toph was going to stay home that she wanted the earthbender to give some news to their wife. "I'd like you to tell Azula something, Toph," Katara began, as Ruaz stepped towards the door of the house, "Aang sent a letter a few days ago asking if we'd want to visit him, On Ji and the boys."

Ruaz turned her attention to her mommy. "We're going to see uncle Aang, aunt On Ji and Bumi, Gyatso and Tenzin?" The waterbender asked excitedly, almost jumping up and down in front of the older benders. Katara laughed, smiling, "Yes. Yes, we are. We just need to get everything ready."

Avatar Aang and his wife, On Ji and their family, lived in the Southern Air Temple. On Ji, a firebender Aang had met in the Fire Nation at the academy while under the pretense of being a Fire Nation student had met up with the last airbender again and they started some kind of connection that transformed into a romantic relationship. In the Southern Air Temple they helped breed new sky bison with their three sons Bumi, a non-bender, Gyatso, a firebender and Tenzin, an airbender.

Katara turned back to Toph, "Relay that to Azula, please?"

Toph nodded, smirking. "You got it, Sugar queen." She remarked, gesturing to Ruaz, "Have a good time, kiddo."

Ruaz grinned, "Bye, mama."

As Toph sensed both Katara and Ruaz exiting the house, door slamming shut behind them, she turned towards the other end of the house, knowing Azula was outside, speaking to the Dai Li. She sensed three sets of vibrations running through the ground and stone floor of the house. At least it was a confirmation that her wife was talking to someone who was actually _there_.

The three mothers never worried when their children were at school. The Dai Li protected their daughters. If not, they would be subjected to the worst kind of vengeance. Lightning, fire, bloodbending, earth swallowing them up and crushing them. One mother's wrath was deadly enough; one did not even want to think about the wrath of three mothers.

Toph shuffled through the house, feeling her way to the door and detected a difference in the vibrations and smiled, aware that she was about to step outside.

**Ba Sing Se Market:**

Zenya leaned against the wooden pole supporting the cloth of one of the market's merchants, arms crossed over her chest as she looked in the direction of her family's house, awaiting the arrival of her sister and mommy. Having seen both Kya and Lin enter the school grounds of Ba Sing Se's most respected academy with the knowledge that the Dai Li were guarding both girls had reassured the oldest of the Fire Nation princess's children that everything was more or less safe and alright for everyone in her family. Zenya tried not to flinch at the thought of her mother two nights ago. Her mother had been the farthest thing from "alright." But being aware of what had set her mother's psychology off like that was useful.

Her grim thoughts were brightened when she saw the shapes of the only two known waterbenders besides Kya that lived in Ba Sing Se approaching her. Her mommy and sister Ruaz had come.

"Hey," Zenya said happily, waving a hand in greeting, "Hey! Ruaz, tell me you brought a bag for stuff. I'm gonna get a bunch of moon peaches! A whole backyard full!"

Ruaz smiled, rolling her blue eyes and held a large brown sack up for her sister to see. Zenya chuckled and hugged her mommy when Katara got close. "Hey, mommy," She said once she and the waterbender parted, "How was mother this morning?"

Katara stiffened for a moment before supplying, "She acted normal. I think she was avoiding the subject but she's been better since yesterday." Zenya nodded, walking close next to Ruaz. Once the three of them were on the road of the market place, delving in deeper, Zenya began whispering to her sister.

"So, Ruaz," the firebender started, "I got some information. I know why mother suffers from schizophrenia. It's because of what Ozai and Ursa did to her."

"Ozai….Ursa…," Ruaz's voice became a growl, "Why am I not surprised?" Zenya noticed her sister's arm flexing and looked down, seeing the waterbender's hands clenching hard in rage. Yes, mentioning either of their mother's parents was considered the number one taboo in their household, especially in front of Azula. Zenya nodded, "I wasn't really surprised either, but mama and mommy pretty much explained the mechanics of it, so to speak. Mother, she just wanted love and she didn't think she was ever good enough. Agni, I don't think either Ozai or Ursa saw her as good enough, so mother thought that she had to be perfect all the time. It really messed her up."

"No kidding." Ruaz mumbled, but Zenya could tell that her sister wasn't concentrating on what she was saying. The waterbender was probably fantasizing about freezing the blood of the two of the people responsible for their mother's illness.

"What are the two of you chatting about?" Katara asked, lifting an eyebrow as she observed the younger benders. Zenya glanced at her mommy absentmindedly before answering quickly, "Nothing."

"Right," Katara chuckled dryly, "Nothing. Nothing at all." Her voice lowered, "Except maybe about your mother."

Both Zenya and Ruaz stiffened but said nothing as they continued walking with the healer who only stopped when she saw a haggard looking man with a cart of cabbages.

Katara noticed a stand with some moon peaches nearby as she reached into her robes for the money to pay for some cabbages, "Zenya, there's moon peaches over there. Do you have money left over?"

"Yeah," The teenage firebender answered, grinning as she ran to the merchant selling the fruits, "I'm good." Katara nodded, handing the cabbage merchant some money and gesturing for him to hand over three of the cabbage heads. She smiled in nostalgia at the thought of the moon peaches. "Momo would have loved to be back here." She mumbled and it was times like this that she wondered if it was her that had gone mad and not her wife. Momo had died of old age like Appa had when Zenya turned five, but his many sons and daughters populated the grounds around their house as well as the grounds of where Avatar Aang and his family at the Southern Air Temple lived.

**The residence of Princess Azula and her family:**

Toph felt the ground carefully. She heard Azula sigh in frustration. The blind woman narrowed her eyebrows, feeling the vibrations. There was movement, but only from her wife and from Lapbu who sounded like he was munching on bushes and berries. There were no vibrations from the Dai Li. The Dai Li agents had left. She felt Azula sitting down on the large rock near the quiet, almost still pond and dropping her face into her hands. Toph, uncertain, walked over. She listened and felt with her feet closely.

"Shut up." She lifted her head when she heard her wife's voice, "Shut up. Mother, shut up. You never loved me. I don't need you. Why would I care? I have people that love me now."

Toph swallowed. While she had gotten used to these occurrences for years now, there was something incredibly disconcerting about hearing Azula talking to someone and yet hearing and feeling only the gophermoose and the firebender's heartbeat and vibrations and no one and nothing else's.

"Stop, mother," Azula growled, hands pressing harder to her face, "You're just an illusion. And you probably could never love anyone but Zuzu anyway, so what's the point of lecturing me?"

Toph stopped in front of her fellow bender and deliberately kicked a small pebble at her wife, hitting the older woman's shoes and alerting her to the earthbender's presence. Toph felt Azula raise her head to look at the blind woman. Toph felt her wife's heart speed up.

"Toph?" The firebender questioned and Toph's heart almost broke at how it quavered, "Toph? Are you really here? Is…..is it really you standing here?" Toph detected the movement of Azula lowering her head so that she was now looking down at the ground. "No," The princess whispered, "No, you're not here. You can't be. You must be out with Katara and the children. Of course you're not here."

Toph tried not to bay out in anger. Screw telling Azula about their trip to the Southern Air Temple to visit Twinkle-Toes. Her wife needed her right now. She lunged forwards and grabbed Azula's right wrist with her left hand, eliciting a gasp from the firebender as she was hauled to her feet, Toph pulling her wife to her chest roughly. Azula's heart thundered and Toph knew her wife's eyes were wide right now.

"Don't you ever say I'm not real, lightningcat," Toph growled out her wife's pet name dangerously, "Don't you ever. I'm real." She wrapped her arms around Azula tightly, one arm grabbing the firebender's and leading it up to the side of neck, her hand clasping over Azula's and forcing the older woman's fingers to dig into the skin of her neck.

Azula gasped again, "Toph!"

Lapbu raised his head in alarm at his mistress's cry, but seeing that it was only Toph that had her in her grasp, he walked away from the scene to look for more grass at the front of the house, moving past the two tangled, panting benders, paying no mind.

"Does this feel real, Zula?" The earthbender demanded, raising her right leg up and starting to press her knee to her wife's center between the older woman's legs. The black haired bender's hips jerked, a cry ripping from her mouth. Toph leaned in, face nuzzling her wife's ear as she breathed huskily, "This is no hallucination. Can a hallucination touch you like this? I'm real, my lightningcat, and don't you forget it." Toph stopped her rubbing against her wife's groin, pulled her leg away from the firebender's lower torso and slid her right arm away from Azula's limb and wrapped it back around the schizophrenic woman's waist, holding her. Her left arm moved closer and Toph pulled away, giving room so that her hand could worm its way between the firebender's legs, and Toph then pressed her forehead against Azula's forehead.

"Do you want me to stop, baby?" She asked the firebender, "If you want me to stop, you'd better tell me."

Azula looked at the other woman in her haze and thrust her hips a little more. "What do you think, hallucination?" She asked, voice clearly mocking, a grin crossing her features, though she knew that Toph could never see it and feel real appreciation for it. Toph gave a mirroring grin, realizing exactly what her wife was doing. She wasn't going to fall for it though. "Come on, Zula," She growled in warning, "Tell me, or I'll just leave you here, wanting more." Azula hissed at that threat. She did not like that idea at all. She spread her legs more, and whimpered, "No. Don't stop, Toph. I swear I'll incinerate you if you stop." Toph nodded at this, grin widening. She moved her hand, her strong, nimble fingers grabbing the hem of her wife's silk green pants and lowering them swiftly, hand then darting inside, fingers pressing against the material of the older woman's undergarment and against her wet, warm core.

Azula shuddered against the Bei Fong heir, whimpers peeling from her throat. Toph held her in a strong grip, thumb jamming into the older woman's moist folds as she closed her eyes, lost as she heard her wife's shrieks. She wasn't concerned with anyone looking at them like this. Let the neighbors see them in this position. Neither she, nor Azula cared about that. Katara was the only one that cared about those silly privacy issues. But then, no one in Ba Sing Se would ever show such disrespect to her, Azula or Katara or their children. And she, Azula and Katara were too feared for that, anyway.

Toph kept her left arm steadily around Azula's middle, keeping the princess upright, her right hand never tiring in its venture. Her right palm stroked harder and harder against Azula's clit and heat. The firebender's legs clenched around her wife's hand, eyes rolling her head, gasps and cries expelling from her as her head was thrown back. The rug Katara had hung over the side of the fence surrounding their house for later was soon up in flames; the few blue, green and brown bits of cloth left singed at the edges as they fell to the ground, small but dangerous azure flames slowly extinguishing as the material incinerated.

Toph smirked when the smell of something scorched filled her nostrils. "Guess Sugar queen is gonna get pissed about her interior designs being burnt to a crisp." She remarked, laughing as she palmed her wife more roughly, grinning when Azula screamed this time, "Too bad. The means of getting it burned is way too satisfying." She slid two of her fingers into Azula through the firebender's soaked black underwear, plunging her digits in again and again. Azula's heaving breaths and increasing heart rate were good indications for the earthbender that her wife was being brought to the edge and she would be thrown over that edge soon. Toph's grin turned dark. _She _was going to be the one to take Azula over the edge.

Azula's thighs began to tremble as her body reached a crescendo. As Toph could feel her wife's vibrations telling her that the ebony haired woman was going to be brought to orgasm, she heard the firebender whimper out, "Toph, Toph, no…..I can't…I can't…too much….I'll…"

"Shh," Toph hushed her, teeth nibbling at the firebender's bared throat, inches above where the blue and white Water Tribe betrothal necklace that Katara had made for their wife lay against the neck's hollow, "I'm here. I'm not going to leave you. Those things you see, they can't hurt you. Your mother can't hurt you. Your father can't hurt you. They won't touch you. I'm real, and you know it. After all, a hallucination could never feel _this _good, could it?" After Toph said "_this_" she slammed her fingers inside Azula more harshly and pinched the older woman's clitoris between her thumb and fingers hard.

One, loud, long, piercing scream shot through the air, filling the whole yard around the house and forcing flocks of birdlizards to disperse from their respective trees at the sound as Azula's hips bucked and her whole form collapsed into Toph as she was overtaken by her orgasm.

Her body withered and she fell against her Toph. Toph's hand was soaked soon as the firebender fell limp. Toph pulled her hand out of the older woman and cupped it under Azula's long, pale legs, picking her right up off the ground in her grasp. Carrying her bridal style now, Toph walked with her wife in her arms towards their house. She got inside, bringing the firebender to the door of their back porch. Once inside, she carried her wife through the wide hallway.

Breaking out of her lustful haze, Azula tried to sit up in the earthbender's arms. "Toph," She protested, "I don't need to lie down. I don't need to rest. Stop it, I'm not fragile."

Toph laughed, whole body shaking, startling her wife, "You, fragile, princess? C'mon, I think we both know you and the word 'fragile,' just don't sound right together. Not sure where you got _that _idea from. Not sure where the idea of rest came from either, Lightningcat." Once Toph had gotten to her, Katara and Azula's bedroom, dropping her wife onto the bed, she climbed onto the mattress, scooting downwards and wrapping one hand around each of Azula's legs, pushing them apart, revealing the princess's underwear attired mound and leaned her head down, taking the fabric of the panties by her teeth and sliding down, effectively removing the underwear from the firebender's groin. She slid her body down, her face only an inch from the older woman's burning core. The vibrations of Azula shuddering beneath her put another grin on Toph's face as the earthbender dipped her tongue into the black haired princess's channel, curling the muscle inside her wife. Her eyelids closed as she absorbed the sounds of her wife's screams.

She twisted her tongue again and again, flicking it around and against the princess's clit violently, holding her wife to the bed as the Fire Nation royal's thighs began to tremble and more sweet fluid began to trickle out into Toph's mouth as the earthbender licked harder, taking each of Azula's legs and throwing each limb over her shoulder, effectively helping the princess wrap her legs around her wife's head, forcing Toph in deeper.

After what must have been the third or fourth orgasm, the Bei Fong woman brought Azula to, the earthbender still did not stop. If anything, the shaky whimpers, cries and moans were only encouragements to keep going. The firebender's long, creamy legs had long since gone limp and lay spread apart against the bed, with Toph holding her buttocks so that she could delve deeper into her princess. Toph kept licking, devouring every drop of pleasure from Azula's sheath till she felt the princess's person collapsing, heartbeat going at a steady rhythm, not making any movement besides breathing. Only then did the earthbender still her actions.

Her wife had passed out. Parting from between the firebender's legs, Toph nuzzled the princess's inner thigh before dragging herself up the bed next to Azula, licking her lips and cleaning the older woman's cum from them, wrapping her arms around the princess's slender form, holding the older to her, smiling as she felt Azula's warm breath on her neck and she slowly drifted off.

**A few hours later:**

Katara, followed by Zenya and Ruaz came through the door of their house, the oldest waterbender sliding the door closed as they all went inside. Ruaz looked around, frowning when she couldn't spot either her mother or mama.

"Mother!" She called out, "Mama! We're home!" There was a playful snarl at their feet and Ruaz looked down to see Tanku jumping up on his hind legs and scratching and the part of her green and brown robes covering her legs and ankles, cloying for attention. The young waterbender smirked, leaning down and picking the servalfox up into her arms.

"Ah, you greedy little creature," Katara chuckled, glancing at the servalfox in Ruaz's arms, "You are such a glutton for attention. Where are your mother and mama, Tan-Tan?"

Feline-canine creature just blinked and purred in Ruaz's grasp as Zenya reached over and stroked his fur gently.

Katara smiled and walked through the house towards her and her wives' bedroom. Sliding the door open, her blue eyes widened when she saw Toph and Azula both on the bed, wrapped in each other's arms, Azula half-naked from the waist down. The two of them were both asleep. Quickly she shut the door again, turning around and faced her children.

"Why don't we put the food away?" She asked, laughing a little, "your mother just needs some rest and your mama is helping her sleep. So, let's get stuff into the kitchen."

Zenya rolled her eyes, not convinced by her mommy's innocent look. "In other words," she said, grinning, "Mama and mother are having some fun-" Katara grabbed the firebender by her ear, tugging it, forcing a yelp from her daughter.

"Don't you dare, Zen," Katara grumbled, pulling the oldest of her wife's children along, "Let's go. Ruaz, come along. You can bring Tanku if you want."

**Author's note:**

**I hope that was enjoyable. And do not send flames at me. Or water or earth or anything. **


	4. Contemplations and vengeance

Disclaimer: Own nothing

**Chapter 4: Contemplations and vengeance:**

Zenya glanced over the wooden and stone barriers of their kitchen wall into the hallway where her mommy was. Katara turned and called gently to her oldest child, "Zen, can you go pick up Kya and Lin from school? They get out in twenty minutes, so could you?" Zenya nodded, smiling. All three of her mothers were busy enough as it was; looking after Ba Sing Se while the city's "joke of a king," as Azula called him was off traveling the world with his bear, Bosco, (neither of which had ever been seen since they had first departed from the city eighteen years ago) not to mention with raising four girls and two animals as well as looking after their home (and Toph and Katara tending to Azula when the firebender had her breakdowns). Zenya was happy to contribute whenever she could.

Satisfied with Zenya's silent affirmation, Katara pivoted back to the opposite wall and opened the bedroom door, entering. The young firebender assumed Katara was going in to help Toph "look after Azula." Zenya didn't mind as Katara slid the wooden door back closed. If anything, the firebender smiled, just happy with the knowledge that her mother was always being taken care of. She had put away all the supplies, placing the moon peaches into bowels on the counters, some too high even for Tanku to reach, even with her agility.

Once everything was away, she looked around the house. Zenya scrunched her eyes. Where was Ruaz? She, her sister and their mommy had all come back from the market together, but now the young waterbender wasn't anywhere. Taking a moment to really think, Zenya walked into the middle of the living room and glanced out the window. Up the hill at the very, past the ponds and the flower beds, past the stones outlining the patches of flowers, covered with emerald grass where Lapbu was grazing, was a large square shaped wooden table with a few chairs placed there for whenever the family wanted to eat outside. Zenya spotted Ruaz sitting at the head of the table, hunched over, doing something-what Zenya couldn't tell.

The firebender walked across the room, noticing Tanku slapping his large russet paw against a stuffed toy as he lazily stretched his body across the floor. She smirked, sliding open the back door and stepping out onto the steps and proceeded up the hill to see what her sister was doing.

After a few seconds, Zenya approached the small table and chairs cautiously. She could see by how her sister's dark brown brow was furrowed that the waterbender was seriously concentrating hard. Zenya wasn't sure what was wrong with Ruaz, but her younger sibling seemed to be furiously writing something, or at least drawing something. When Zenya reached the top of the hill, only an inch from where her sister sat, she spoke up, surprised Ruaz hadn't noticed her yet, "Hey, Ru, what's going on? You're working on something?"

The waterbender lifted her head, then looked back down at the papers in front of her which appeared to be a map of the Earth Kingdom and a map of the Fire Nation. "Yeah," Ruaz growled, eyes completely focused on various coordinates on the papers, "I'm trying to figure out where _she _could be."

Zenya was now puzzled. She? "Whose 'she?'" The firebender asked, hoping to shed some light on a fairly random situation.

"Ursa." Was her sister's cold reply. Zenya didn't know what to say when she heard that. She knew that the matter of Ursa wasn't going to be forgotten easily, if at all, but she had no idea that Ruaz was going to take it _this _far. Zenya hated Ursa and Ozai, just as much as Ruaz did, but it seemed ultimately clear that her younger sister, only at the age of eleven, was planning to track Ursa down herself...and then what? What would Ruaz do once she finally found that infamous grandmother of theirs? The question sent a chilly feeling slither through her. She honestly didn't want to know. Was her little sister truly capable of murder?

Against her better judgment, Zenya asked, "And what happens when you find her?"

Ruaz lifted her head again and turned, her blue eyes staring intensely into her sister's gold ones, "I'm gonna kill her." Was the terribly icy reply. It took all of the firebender's strength not to shudder. "You-you can't!" Zenya stuttered, shocked, "You can't kill our mother's mother!" Whatever shock she had felt at hearing her sister plan to kill their grandmother was eclipsed by the horror that found its way into Zenya's system when she realized she had just defended the woman that had made her mother's life miserable. As Zenya predicted, Ruaz caught on and glared.

"What do you mean?" The waterbender demanded, no mercy in her tone and Zenya knew that there was a great injustice for an eleven year old to sound like that, "our mother was a child and that woman treated her like she was an abomination. She treated mother like she didn't matter and she only cared about uncle Zuzu! When I get my hands on that woman, she'll wish she had never even been born." The conviction of what Ruaz was saying hit Zenya hard. She didn't know if there was any reasoning with her sister. However, she decided to use technical thinking.

"Okay," Zenya began in a desperate attempt to deter the other bender, "Let's say you _are_ planning to kill Ursa. How do you know she's even still alive? What's the average expected lifespan of a relatively healthy human being without sickness or violence involved? Sixty? Seventy? Maybe seventy-five if the person's really, really lucky. How old was Ursa when she left Zuko and Azula?"

Zenya's cocky query was answered with a straightforward and clinical voice from her sister, "Specifically, she was twenty-six. She and Ozai were young when they married. It's been twenty-seven years since she left Zuko and mother. That means that she'd be fifty-three by now. Trust me, I checked. Don't ask. I had a Dai Li agent go into the Fire Nation palace records and find the proof of her age. There's still a strong chance she's alive, and so she can meet a painful end."

Zenya stared befuddled. Had she really just heard that? Had her little sister really sent a secret Dai Li member into the palace without their mothers' consent, retrieved documents out from under the _Fire Lord, _and their uncle's nose, calculated the age correctly, _and _was planning a mission of revenge? In her shocked desperation, the struck cold firebender blurted out, "How are you planning on _finding _her?! No one has seen her in years. The last time she was seen, as far as we know, was when uncle Zuzu was just a boy, and again, like you said, that was twenty-seven years ago. How do we know she's still amongst the living anyway, even if her age is correct?"

Zenya hoped that that would make Ruaz hesitate, even though she knew just how determined and stubborn the waterbender could be. Ruaz just looked back at the map as she breathed out, "We go by 'process of elimination.' There is no way she can be in either of the water tribes. She'd stick out like a sore thumb since the only people that look like they're from the Fire Nation and who visit there are mother, you, Lin, uncle Zuzu, aunt Mai, and cousins Huroshi and Maya. And On Ji. And she can't be at any of the Air Temples because uncle Aang, aunt On Ji and their boys are living at the Southern one, the Western Air Temple is almost inaccessible, a crazy person used to live in both the Northern Air Temple and the Eastern Air Temple, so people steer clear of those because of ghost stories. Besides, aside from uncle Aang and his family, who would go there with all the bloodshed that happened there?" Zenya tensed at how nonchalant her sister was about discussing the Air Nomad genocide.

Ruaz didn't appear to notice her sister's discomfort. She carried on, "So I'm limited to the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation. The Fire Nation would be too obvious for her. Ozai would still be able to find her real easily, even though he's dead. But what would a woman like Ursa know about not being afraid? She was scared of a five-year old girl; her own daughter for Agni's sake. So my money's on the Earth Kingdom. She'd probably stick close to a city or a big village. You know, access to food and stuff? There's only three real big cities. Taku's completely abandoned; there would be too many questions raised if Ursa were there. There's already a lot of negative stuff with that old woman being there that uncle Aang ran into. Omashu…..and here, in Ba Sing Se."

Zenya swallowed, "And just how are you going to figure out which city she's in, oh vengeful one?"

Ruaz gave Zenya a cynical look at her sister's "title." Zenya shrugged, smirking. Their uncle Sokka had taught her _something _at least about humor and knowing the right thing to say and when to say it at least.

"Like I said," Ruaz snapped, irritation easily detected in the waterbender's voice, "Taku is too easy to notice when someone is there, in an abandoned city. This city loves us. It's residents love our mothers, so all we have to do is demand all the names of the families that live here. We can find out if Ursa's living in Ba Sing Se. If not, then there's always Omashu. And if she's dead, well then I guess that saves me the trouble of killing her myself, doesn't it?"

Zenya tried not to feel sick when she heard that. True, she had her own issues with Ursa and how the woman had treated her own daughter, but all the fantasies Zenya had had of burning the woman to death had faded and sweetened with the knowledge that at least Azula had a family now. At least the firebender had two wives and four children and surprisingly now had many friends. All of which adored her very much. Not to mention a city that respected her. At least Azula had the last laugh in the end while it was likely that Ursa had died alone, aged to death, worrying in her home only about her poor son as her body sagged to the floor, deceased, sad. Maybe she had committed suicide in her fear for Zuko. The concept that that had been what happened was the only intoxicating theory that Zenya had to go on. She prayed to Agni and the spirits that it was true; that Ursa had died a terrible death of her own making, suffering like she deserved, but only by her own hands. Ruaz didn't deserve to have her hands sullied by Ursa's death.

Ruaz paused, putting the long silver feather she had been using back into the small black inkwell on the table, in the far right corner, keeping the feather's end contained as she got up, moving past the table with the maps on it; both maps with black circles and writings scribbled all over them. Ruaz walked till she stood right in front of Zenya, eyes staring up at her sister's again.

"Zen," Ruaz began slowly, "I need to know you're on mother's side. I need your help to find this bitch." Zenya flinched. She couldn't prevent herself from being startled at how vulgar her sister was being. She was Toph Bei Fong's blood daughter. Ruaz was Katara's. The two of them and their sister were birthed and reared by three mothers, but while one of those mothers was royalty and refused to curse or tolerate her children cursing under any circumstance, one of the other mothers had a bad temper and didn't always watch her words and the third mother, despite being rich, was rude, forwards, and cursed more than the most drunken sailor in all the Earth Kingdom. So if anyone asked, Zenya would have only told them that she and her sisters grew up with mixed messages.

It was still startling to hear her sister curse though. Even if the curse was being flung at the most hated woman in the world (for their family), it was still slightly surreal.

Ruaz must have picked up on what her big sister was thinking because she scoffed soon, "Oh, sorry, did you and mother switch bodies by any chance? Since when were you so sensitive about cursing?"

"Never," Zenya lobbed back, "Just seems out of character for you, even with your temper. And did you and mama switch bodies or something?" Her tone was mocking in its echo of Ruaz's question. She scowled at her little half-sister, "And just tell me, what are you planning on _doing _to Ursa, should you actually find her? I mean really? You're not _actually _going to kill her, are you?"

Ruaz rolled her eyes, "No, mama and I have not switched bodies. And what do you think I'll do to Ursa? Yes, I will kill her. She made our mother insane. She made her sick. I'm going to kill her. Ozai was stripped of his bending and sent to prison and then hanged for trying to destroy the Earth Kingdom. His justice has been served out. Where is the justice Ursa deserves?! Well it's resting with me. I'll deliver it. I might not be a very powerful bender, but I know how to freeze water. Mommy has taught me how. And I know that the human body is made up of fifty or fifty-six percent of water."

Zenya felt absolutely chilled by how her sister was talking about killing another human being by 'freezing their blood.' She had never heard her sister talk like this before. And Ruaz spoke about it as if discussing going to the market or petting Tanku or something. She talked about it as if it was completely normal. Ruaz turned back to the table, grabbing the papers and rolling them up before walking past Zenya back down the hill to their house.

Ruaz called over her shoulder to her sister, "Why do you think I'm doing this all the way up this hill? I don't want mama feeling the vibrations of what I'm doing. She'll find out. But then again, I think she'll want a piece of Ursa too."

Zenya let go of a withheld breath finally. That was too tense for words. She knew she hated Lady Ursa, mother of prince Zuko, now the Fire Lord and princess Azula, the unofficial lord of Ba Sing Se, though no one really saw the king of Ba Sing Se as their leader anymore, only the three benders living in their "Middle Ring." In fact, Ursa was hated by all of this household, not just by Zenya and Ruaz. Oddly, the only person who didn't actually seem to hate Ursa in this family, was Azula herself. She was just in pain because of Ursa. But Toph and Katara…..Zenya didn't want to think about what Ruaz, Katara and Toph might do to Azula's mother, should they ever find her.

Zenya's thoughts were blissfully interrupted when she remembered that she had to pick up Kya and Lin from school. Gold eyes wide, she turned and ran down the hill, bolting past Ruaz who jumped, startled and ran up the wooden face around the house, unlocking it and going out, yelling to Ruaz, "Tell mama, mother and mommy that I'm going to get Kya and Lin!"

Sure, if they had to, the Dai Li would escort Kya and Lin back to their home, but Zenya was pretty sure her little sisters didn't want to have such an informal and stiff experience like that, besides, their mommy had asked her, and she certainly would do all she could to help.

**(Page break)**

Kya walked out of the school, glaring over at some of the Earth Kingdom boys snickering at her. She hated them. They called her things like "freak" and "weirdo." "Savage" also got thrown in there a lot because of her looks and who her mommy was. Her mothers had been spoken to by the teacher more than thrice for Kya blasting water into each boy's faces in a fit of wrath as punishment. But then, there wasn't much of a consequence concerning her mothers. The three of them were in control of Ba Sing Se since the city's king wasn't very responsible. Kya kept glaring and some other boys who were scared of Kya, or at least of her family avoided her gaze and the waterbender grinned.

She heard a bell ring and she swirled around, seeing the other half of the school, housing the younger children being open and the students flooded out. Kya giggled, running over to see if she could find Lin.

Amongst the abundance of small children, Kya made out the round face and long dark hair in a ravenpony-tail. Her sister was right there. She raced over coming up to the girl who was saying goodbye to her friends. When Lin saw Kya, she smiled in greeting, her departing friends waving to the waterbender. The Earth Kingdom school's students were a bit more civil and polite to Lin. Lin looked like she was Earth Kingdom and she _was _an earthbender. Lin was the closest in her family to being "normal." Lin's three big sisters and their mothers on the other hand…that was another story.

"Hey, Lin!" Kya exclaimed, grabbing her little sister's right hand in her left, ready to lead her out of the courtyard.

"Hi, Kya." Lin smiled, nodding, "How was it?"

"It was good." Lin chirped, "What about you? Were the kids mean again, Kya?"

Kya shrugged, "Only a little. They just stared and stuff. It's fine." Lin glared at Kya's school though. So much as insulting any member of their family was crossing a dangerous line for them.

"Kya! Lin!" A voice cried out and both girls looked to see Zenya encroaching on them. They perked up happily, spotting their big sister.

"Zen!" They both called out and ran over to the firebender. "Hey, guys," Zenya said, smiling and ruffling both their hair when they got close, "How was school?" They looked at each other and back at their sister, shrugging. Zenya chuckled. She knew that she had asked a pretty dumb question. She knew how this school saw her family. They respected and feared Toph, Katara and Azula. Especially Azula. They gave some respect to Zenya and her sisters, but all in all they were seen as freaks. Lin was accepted because she was an earthbender and looked almost exactly like Toph, save for her eyes. Zenya could have passed as Earth Kingdom too, except she looked more like their mother, and she was a firebender.

No one dared to raise a finger against them, but there certainly were whispers, rumors and fearful glances.

"Forget them," Zenya grumbled, glaring at the staring children across the courtyard, "They're not worth your time. Let's go." Zenya led her sisters out of the yard and down the road towards their house.

"And while we're out here," Zenya added once they were out of hearing range of the schools, "Mommy told us that we're going to visit uncle Aang and his family at the Southern Air Temple." The firebender made a point of looking at Lin when she said that, wanting to see her sister's reaction. She wasn't disappointed when she witnessed the earthbender brighten up, grinning, eyes alight.

"We're visiting uncle Aang and aunt On Ji?" The youngest of the three girls exclaimed loudly, "Is Tenzin going to be there?"

Zenya held back a laugh. Lin's excited question was all the reward she felt she needed for walking her sisters back home. Lin had decided a few months ago that she and Tenzin were boyfriend and girlfriend, even though Katara swore that they were too young for that. Lin naturally had not listened and Tenzin never seemed to mind. The little airbender just happily levitated them with his wind gusts, allowing him and Lin to float around the temple under Zenya and Bumi, the oldest children's supervision.

"Will you be happy to see Bumi?" Lin asked, smiling at her big sister. Zenya lifted an eyebrow. Her naïve little sister had it in her head that they were going to marry the three sons of their mothers' best friend. Really, Bumi was like Zenya's little brother. Granted he was only two years younger, but he was still like her brother. Honestly, Zenya wasn't that interested in boys. At all. She started realizing that she was like her mothers a few months after she turned twelve. She started noticing the girls in her classes more and more. She wasn't going to say a word to either of the all too talkative children in front of her about her crush in her class; a young fifteen-year-old earthbending girl who liked to draw and paint named Tulivana. When she talked about it and had asked what Katara thought, the waterbender, as Zenya had hoped and personally expected had been understanding and had simply said that the firebender would be loved and accepted by her family no matter what.

Besides, it wasn't her Bumi was interested in. Zenya thought about the last time the non-bender had asked her whether or not Ruaz liked him. The firebender tried not to grimace so as not to trouble Kya and Lin in any way. She wondered how Bumi would react if he knew his crush was becoming more and more vengeful every day. It seemed to Zenya that Ruaz was focused on only one thing; finding or killing Ursa. Or both.

It was strange but while Ruaz physically resembled Katara and was a waterbender, her personality mirrored Azula and Toph's more than anyone else's. Which was odd especially, considering Ruaz was not in any way by blood related to Toph. Zenya herself was said to be a contradiction, like Ruaz was. She was the blood daughter of two of the wildest benders in the world, yet rumor had it that she acted very much like her great uncle, Iroh. If anyone asked, Zenya would have said that that was an insult. She didn't mind Iroh's presence (the elderly man who seemed quite ancient now didn't appear able to even harm a fly) but she also knew that Iroh was one of the people that demonized her mother and didn't try to help her mother in any way. So she took the serene comparison as it was to her; a scornful thing to say. Of course, she was calm and serene, until someone even mentioned a threat towards her family or insulted one of her mothers. Or even breathed that she was like the old man that neglected his niece. Either way...

When the three benders arrived at their house, Zenya stiffened when she saw a member of the Dai Li speaking to Ruaz on their porch. The Dai Li bowed and earthbended his way through the stone wall in front of the house, disappearing from Zenya and her sisters' view.

Zenya narrowed her eyes. "Ruaz?" She shouted, "What was that?"

Ruaz looked at her older sister, papers in her hands that Zenya assumed were the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation maps. Ruaz smirked at her sister and swiveled around, heading back into the house.

"Zen," Kya mumbled, curious, "What happened? Why was Ru talking to that Dai Li guy?"

"I don't know..." Zenya answered, voice sounding incredibly uncertain, eyes never leaving the front of the house. She had gone to pick Kya and Lin up, leaving an enraged Ruaz and felt nothing but dread because of it, but now? Now there was a terrible feeling...not even dread could quite describe it. Just a pure horror. Of what? Zenya didn't know, and she had a feeling that though she didn't want to know, she was going to find out soon.


End file.
